History TabletopGame / TheMadnessDossier

The campaign setting of this supplement was originally presented in a shorter form in one edition of ''GURPS Horror'' for the third edition of ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}''. Come the fourth edition, it was considered impressive and interesting enough to rate a short book of its own, published in PDF format in 2014. (It can be purchased from [[http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-1682 the Steve Jackson Games Web site here.]]) The world it describes appears to be our own, which is horrific because the world in question is essentially a lie -- a fiction created in 535 AD as a successful reality-changing revolution against the ''[[MesopotamianMonstrosity Anunnakku]]'', mind-warping monsters who are humanity's creators and natural rulers, and who may have been aliens, supernatural, extradimensional, or something else. But now, the Anunnakku want their world and their slave-race back. They just have to become entirely real again.

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* CosmicHorrorStory: Technically, this setting is at the low end of the Cosmic Horror range; the antagonists ''probably'' couldn't destroy the Earth, and have an actual interest in humanity (as slaves at the bottom of their hierarchy). Nonetheless, reality is unstable, the Red Kings are godlike {{Eldritch Abomination}}s who can probably only be slain by crossing the GodzillaThreshold, the heroes are far from certain of victory and may be driven mad in the struggle, and humanity has a very low place in the universe.

* SheduAndLammasu: The supplement draws on original sources for its inagery and nomenclature, making its treatment of shedu and lammasu imagery a bit different to some games and modern stories. The kusarikku are centaur-like bull-men, with human heads and torsos on bull bodies, and are hugely strong with powers of temperature control: the šedu are winged humanoids of inhuman beauty who could be taken for angels; and the ugallu have lions’ heads on human bodies and powers based on weather control.

* AmoralAfrikaner: A minority ''Witsander'' faction in the South African branch planned to use Anunnaki memetics to keep apartheid working. When the rest of Project SANDMAN found out, they orchestrated the end of apartheid - and liquidated the ''entire'' South African branch [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill just to be sure]].

* AmoralAfrikaner: A minority ''Witsander'' faction in the South African branch planned to use Anunnakku memetics to keep apartheid working. When the rest of Project SANDMAN found out, they orchestrated the end of apartheid - and liquidated the ''entire'' South African branch [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill just to be sure]].

* CatFolk: The ''ugallu'' are lion-headed beings with weather control powers who serve the Anunnakku as warriors.

** The Anunnakku known as ''êkimmu'' have no physical form of their own, but take over human victims in a way virtually indistinguishable from classic demonic possession. They seem to be a sort of independent meme or mental subroutine.

* FishPeople: The ''kulullû'' are an aquatic race who act as lieutenants to the Anunnakku leadership.

* InfectiousInsanity: Anunnakku mental manipulation is sophisticated enough to induce this effect more or less deliberately.

* OurMinotaursAreDifferent: The ''kusarikku'', or bull-men, are the heavy assault troops in Anunnakku forces.

* ScorpionPeople: The ''girtablullû,'' or scorpion-men, are the (more than adequately dangerous) foot-soldiers in Anunnakku forces.

* SheduAndLammasu: The supplement draws on original sources for its inagery and nomenclature, making its treatment of shedu and lammasu imagery a bit different to some games and modern stories. The ''kusarikku'' are centaur-like bull-men, with human heads and torsos on bull bodies, and are hugely strong with powers of temperature control: the ''šedu'' are winged humanoids of inhuman beauty who could be taken for angels; and the ''ugallu'' have lions’ heads on human bodies and powers based on weather control.

* SnakePeople: The ''bašmu'' has the body of a snake and a humanoid torso, and serves the Red Kings as a guardian of important sites.

* RedScare: The setting features some leftover Cold War problems with the former Soviet Union. Thanks to disastrous leaks from the precursors of Project SANDMAN, the USSR acquired some knowledge of Anunnakku-style mind control techniques, which went to build a secret psychic warfare program (with a touch of SovietSuperscience). Although TheGreatPoliticsMessUp left this program crippled, remnants still exist, working for modern Russia and fending off attempts by TheMafiya to acquire and exploit their knowledge. Fortunately or unfortunately, they don't appear to know much about the Anunnakku (which may mean that they are easily manipulated by them).

* ALoadOfBull: The ''kusarikku'', or bull-men, are the heavy assault troops in Anunnakku forces.

* DefectorFromCommieLand: One suggested player-character type is a survivor of the rather brutal Russian psychic warfare research program, who can have acquired some weird powers and an understanding of the true nature of reality. Project SANDMAN will certainly help such people defect and look to employ them; the defector may be entirely willing to help, realizing just how bad their opponents are.